About Us ...

Heather Matuozzo

Heather has always had a fascination with the kind of things people collect. “Both of my aunties were hoarders,” she says, “and I found it joyous as a child. They taught me about going to jumble sales and rooting through the items on sale for ‘treasures’. Yet I always wanted to tidy up when I visited. They just laughed!

“When I first came across the concept of ‘decluttering’ it was a light bulb moment - I knew that was the kind of work I wanted to do.”

Since then Heather has become an expert in the subject and has worked on a freelance basis, as well as for a charity, helping hoarders to declutter in a supportive way. “The process has to be fun, or it won’t succeed,” she says. ”People often start off looking so frightened about what I’m going to ask them to do, but the idea is to help people slowly change their behaviour at a pace they find comfortable, not to compel them to make dramatic, shocking changes.”

Heather set up Clouds End CIC in 2010 to increase the scale of the assistance she can offer not just to individuals, but also social services, housing associations, landlords, Primary Care Trusts and anyone else who comes needs to tackle hoarding situations that are creating problems.

Clouds End works in partnership with other individuals and organisations to create a special Task Force capable of assisting clients in a variety of ways. “Once a person has made the decision not to hang on to something, we need to consider the best thing to do with it,” explains Heather. “It could be bin it, recycle it, give it away or sell it. Sometimes a specialist cleaning company is required, or help from a psychiatrist may be needed in a few instances. It’s different in every case.”

“Genetically I’m a hoarder,

but I also like tidying up
and putting things in order.”

The Clouds End CIC Task Force